Diadora what a company. The history of the Diadora brand is Italian quality in a sports wrapper. Recognition and development of success

16.04.2012 / 271

Interesting information about the Diadora brand. Background information about the Diadora brand.

Diadora is an Italian company, manufacturer of sportswear, footwear and accessories, based in Caerano di San Marco in the province of Treviso. Technical sponsor and creator of uniforms for the Italian Referees Association.

The Diadora company was born after the Second World War, in 1948. Mountain boots from the Veneto region were famous for their comfort and durability.

The founder of the company, Marcello Danieli, named the company Diadora, the name of the sports society that won a historic medal at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. The name comes from the Greek “diadora”, which means “sharing success”, and it is this expression that lies at the foundation of the company’s principles.

Shoe production began to flow in the 60s, the company became famous throughout Italy. In addition to mountain boots, ski boots were also produced. Diadora developed with the times, and by the end of the 60s it began to produce a variety of sports shoes. In 1966, the brand logo was developed, which is called “five balls”, which symbolized the emblem of the Olympic Games, a symbol of the highest sporting achievements in the world of sports.

The 70-80s of the 20th century became significant in the development of the brand; it was the real heyday of the company. The main star of that time was the famous tennis player Bjorn Borg, a multiple winner of Grand Slam tournaments, he was sponsored by the company. For many decades, Diadora sneakers will be associated with this sport.

It was in the 70s that sportswear began to symbolize style, Italian fashion designers gave it a certain chic and not only athletes, but famous directors and movie stars began to wear it. Roberto Botega became the first footballer to be sponsored by Diadora, in 1978. This is how the company broke into the world of big football.

In the 80s, the company was just gaining momentum and the Italian national team was already playing in Diadora, the quality of materials reached a new level. This decade can safely be called golden in the development of the company; it was then that the iconic Borg Elite and many more classic sneakers were released.

In the 90s, cult athletes of that time appeared in a large sports family, such as Roberto Baggio, Goran Ivanisevic, Christian Vieri, Marco Van Bastan, Gustavo Kuerten and other teams and athletes from all over the world.

From the mid-90s to the present day is not the best period in the history of the brand. However, Diadora does not stand still; style and quality are the main credo of the company. The Heritage line has been produced since the early 2000s, and it is this line that is available in our store. These included classic vintage silhouettes that became a true icon of the 70s and 80s.

An Italian brand that produces women's, men's and children's shoes, as well as clothing and accessories for sports and for every day. The company's goal is to become world leaders in the sports, active lifestyle and safety markets through products that combine style and technological innovation.

The company's transformation from a small craft workshop into a world-famous brand was helped by the creativity and imagination of its creators, who brought their ideas to life with the help of innovative materials and cuts. Designers and constructors of the brand are in a constant process of rationalization, studying sports from an applied point of view - safety for humans.

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The brand name comes from the Greek “dia-dora,” which means “to share gifts and honors.” Common success, team spirit in sports activities, competition worthy of both team members and opponents are some of the main principles inherent in the Diadora brand.

The company was founded in 1948 as a craft workshop producing mountain boots that have proven to be the most reliable mountain and work boots on the market. In the 60s, the company took a step towards sports: Diadora sports shoes were also distinguished by high quality and advanced characteristics, and their production acquired an industrial scale. At the beginning of the next decade, Diadora became the first Italian company to develop a new sports marketing concept that included athletes as stars and style icons. The brand's products have gone beyond professional sports and become part of a new lifestyle.

The beginning of the 90s was a qualitatively new stage: the brand created its own research center with a working group consisting of shoe production technologists, experts from the Milan Polytechnic Center for Bioengineering and doctors specializing in orthopedics. By the end of the decade, the company continued its development in the sports market, adding to this its original specialization - work shoes in the Diadora Utlity line.

In the 2000s, the brand introduced Heritage, a line of luxury sports models that reflected new trends of the time: fashion became part of sport, and sport became part of life.

In 2009, Enrico Moretti Polegato, the son of Mario Moretti Polegato, founder of the Italian shoe company Geox, became the owner and president of the company. With the arrival of new management, the company focused on the values that would define it for the years to come: style and sport.

“Our dream is to surpass our previous successes. We realized that we could do this by combining our capabilities and teamwork" (Enrico Moretti Polegato)

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The next two decades were the most successful in Diadora's history. Having secured the support and sponsorship contract with the famous tennis player Bjorn Borg, the company not only breaks into the world of tennis, but also spreads the “sports fever” to Italian fashion. Now sportswear is not just an athlete's uniform, but part of a relaxed bohemian style.

The ball is bigger

In 1978, following the conquest of tennis courts, Diadora comes to football stadiums. Roberto Bettega became the first football player with whom the brand entered into a sponsorship contract. Soon the entire Italian national team will be wearing new high-quality uniforms from Diadora. The company begins to produce clothing and footwear for professional volleyball, basketball, athletics, boxing, motocross and pentathlon. Numerous Diadora athletes become not just sports icons, but also fashion icons. In 1984, the brand released the iconic B.B. sneaker model. Elite, dedicated to Bjorn Borg.

Swedish professional tennis player Bjorn Borg wearing B.B. Elite

In the last decade of the twentieth century, Diadora continues its collaboration with famous athletes of that time: Roberto Baggio, Christian Vieri, Goran Ivanisevic and many others. This experience allows the company to experiment with technological materials, design and shape when creating new models of sneakers and sneakers. Especially for these purposes, Diadora establishes its own research center CRD (Diadora Research Center), where shoemakers, technologists and orthopedic doctors work to create improved shoe models.

Enrico Moretti Polegato - General Manager of Diadora

A fresh take on a classic

At the dawn of the new millennium, designers decided to turn to the past, looking back at the half-century history of Diadora. The result of the work was the Heritage line, which included the brand’s iconic silhouettes. Currently, the brand actively collaborates with well-known streetwear brands and informal stores, producing capsule collections for loyal fans of stylish and high-quality sports shoes. One of the latest projects was work with the New York store Extra Butter, embodied in the Diadora N9000 model.

Diadora Men's sneakers I.C. 4000 Premium Beer Pack Pompeian Red/Nautical Blue/Vanil

The Diadora company is one of the oldest and most respected in Europe, and perhaps in the world.

And it all started with the war, the First World War. The foothill areas of the province of Veneto, from the River Piave to Montello, constituted a strategic front. It could not be divided between Italy and Austria. In order to meet the needs of the Italian army, in 1917 the production of military footwear was established in Veneto, which greatly contributed to the victorious outcome in favor of Italy.

The experience gained during hostilities was actively used in the post-war period in the production of boots and mountain boots. Soon the Montebelluna region established a landmark known throughout Italy as a product example considered in an industrial context. In light of these successes, almost immediately after the Second World War, thanks to the creative potential of Marcello Danielle, the Diadora brand was born.

In 1948, Diadora made a huge impression on the entire Veneto region and then throughout Italy. During this period, the company is the best workshop for the production of handmade mountain boots.

Marcello Danielle, the founder of the company, chose the name Diadora on the advice of friends. The expression originated in Italy in early 1900, as the name of a historical sports society based in Lido, Venecia, which won a historic medal at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. The word comes from the Greek "dia-dora", which means "sharing of success, sharing of honors and gifts", it is this hidden meaning that will be embedded in the fundamental principles of the company.

Diadora is an Italian brand that was particularly dominant in football, tennis and ski gear throughout the 70s and 90s. In Russia, he has gained fame over the past ten years mainly thanks to sneakers. Diadora has adapted many archival silhouettes for everyday wear and street fashion, helping them stand out from industry giants adidas and Nike. But first, a little history.

How the Diadora brand was founded

In 1948, Marcello Daniele founded a workshop in the commune of Caerano di San Marco, Venice region. The main product was work and mountain boots, the production of which was significantly improved thanks to experience during the war years. During the 50s, Daniele, with the help of his wife, was able to bring the company to the national level - the Diadora brand became a symbol of quality.

In the 60s, the post-war economic boom continued - color television appeared, matches became even more spectacular, people began to relax more, and the sports industry as a whole grew. Diadora noticed the trend and purchased several important patents from the USA - this allowed them to combine existing quality standards with new products and ideas. For example, ski boots were released.

Growing volumes also did not interfere with Diadora’s signature quality. After ski boots, the brand developed running and tennis sneakers, captivating the new generation of youth of the 70s, passionate about athletics.

Brand development, iconic athletes

The traditions of Italian production were improved with the help of professional athletes - he collaborated with four-time Grand Slam winner Gilmero Vilas, member of the Italian Davis Cup team Martin Mulligan, world number one Bjorn Borg.

A signature silhouette was even released for Borg in 1981 - Diadora Borg Elite (B. Elite). These sleek leather sneakers later became one of the premier examples of archival streetwear reissues and are still available for purchase in 2019.

Since the mid-70s, Diadora entered football with the support of Roberto Bettega, Italian champion and current vice-president of the Juventus club. Dutch footballer Marcel Van Basten became the face of the football line in the 80s and received his own boot silhouette, the San Siro Van Basten. The Italian brand still ranks third in sales in the football equipment industry.

90s, research center

In the 90s, Diadora founded the DRC, Diadora Research Centre. This is a special institute dedicated to the development of innovation in footwear through a combination of athletes, expert designers, bio-engineers from the Politecnico di Milano and orthopedic doctors. The result was sneakers such as the Diadora Trident 90 S, Diadora N.9000, N.9002 and others.

2000s and 2010s, Diadora Heritage

With the trend of sneakers in everyday life, the brand launched a separate division, Diadora Heritage, dedicated to re-releasing the most interesting silhouettes of the past. However, what is most interesting here is not the silhouettes themselves, but the attitude towards them - for example, a number of models are produced in Italy, and dozens of unique collaborations are released every year, revealing a new side to Italian sports design.

For example, in 2016, a joint model was released with the American retailer Bait - “Notti Veneziane” N.9000, inspired by city nightlife and made from a combination of Italian leather and Italian nubuck, and also decorated with imitation snakeskin.

The Solebox x Diadora V.7000 ‘Azzurro’ model, inspired by Italian singer Paolo Conte, also uses premium materials. A comic music video was even filmed especially for the release.

As you can see, many Diadora collaborations are inspired by Italy - and this is a choice not only of the brand itself, but also of the retailers/designers involved in the projects. They value heritage and seek connections with things that are close to the brand. Another example is the Diadora × Extra Butter N.9000 “Giallo” collaboration, which refers to the special Italian giallo horror genre, replete with bloody scenes and a special camera style. The sneakers were made in Italy.

What's next

Today, Diadora has earned a strong place in the hearts of athletes and sneakerheads. While it's hard to find a Diador collector as dedicated as the Jordans, these sneakers always live up to their expectations. Each collaboration is months of work and creativity, performed to the highest standards.